


Obligations

by lakeghost



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bickering, Drabble Collection, Dracula is an overprotective dad pass it on, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Other, Roommates, Slice of Life, University, fangst, the good stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lakeghost/pseuds/lakeghost
Summary: [Bodyguard AU]Trevor is very good at killing vampires. So good, in fact, that he's being hired by one to do just that.
Relationships: Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont
Comments: 13
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *shamefully emerges from their crypt and slides this across your desk*
> 
> So, um, apparently I haven't posted since July?? Real life has been keeping me busy, but I am determined to finish out the year strong and spam all you lovelies with fics until I physically can't.

**Trevor**  


He said he’d be wearing a red jacket. I scanned the room as I pushed the door open, and just about walked back out again when I saw my new client.

____

This asshole was wearing a wine-red, velvet blazer at three in the afternoon. In the campus coffee shop. And he had the audacity to glare out the window like it was everyone else’s problem that he looked ridiculous. I kept an eye on him as I ordered my drink at the counter. He didn’t seem to notice me and continued glaring out the wide pane window.

____

I’d only had a few email exchanges with Adrian; his dad was the one actually paying me for the job. I stepped to the side to wait for my coffee and pulled out my phone to send him a text. Technically, I didn’t need to actually converse with him. I mean, I was going to be living in his apartment, starting tonight, so we’d probably exchange a few words, but it wasn’t required. From across the room, I watched him check his phone when it buzzed. He frowned and shoved it back in his bag without a reply. He didn’t turn around. I sent another message.

____

_I’ll be at the third table from the door, left side._

____

He didn’t even take his phone out of his bag this time. I held back a sigh. This was going to be much more difficult if he was going to have an attitude about it. My coffee was ready, so I made my way to the table, as promised. This was fine. I was only contracted for the semester. We didn’t have to be friends, but some professional courtesy would be nice. 

____

Adrian kept himself busy for a few hours, flipping through a mean-looking textbook and occasionally scowling at his calculator. I kept tabs on the room, who was going in and out, etc, etc. I wasn’t too worried. Like past clients, Adrian - well, Adrian’s father - wanted protection from the things that go bump in the night. Granted, until now, they’d all been other humans, looking for some muscle in case their supernatural dealings got out of hand. But the doctors Tepes seemed to have faith I could restrain myself and keep from staking their son on sight, and there was simply no one else with more experience fending off night creatures.

____

I let my eyes linger on Adrian’s reflection in the window. He had his head in one hand, fingers tangled in his hair while he read. I couldn’t make out his expression, but he must have felt my staring, because he soon twisted around to scowl at me. I offered a curt nod and kept my expression neutral, and he quickly resumed his work. He flicked his hair back over his shoulder, and I kept my gaze there a moment longer. He really did have nice hair. Sure, it was ostentatious, a bit absurd, but if I had hair that was the dictionary definition of “flaxen”, I’d probably wear it long too. 

____

He definitely takes after his mom, at least in terms of hair and facial features. She was the one who contacted me initially, which was a smart move on their part. Had the other Tepes been the one to approach me, it likely would have ended with one of us dead, which no one wants. I’m glad I took the job, even if he won’t disclose his first name. I get that vampires are secretive, but for fuck’s sake, I have 1099s to fill out.

____

Even if I may have had minor moral objections, I wasn’t about to say no to the richer-than-god vampire king. Or prime minister or whatever. The inner workings of the spooky vampire aristocracy aren’t really my business, and I don’t plan to change that. Lisa assured me that their son wasn’t a danger to humanity, and since he was my charge, I was willing to turn a blind eye to whatever his family is up to behind closed doors.

____

I didn’t make it any less strange, guarding a vampire. Half-vampire. Honestly, from where I was sitting, he looked less than half. Even in full romantic-goth regalia, he was passably human, even to a well-trained eye. I sipped my coffee and idly scrolled through my email. The sun was starting to set, and the light slanted through the windows.

__  
_ _

I gave Adrian a ten second headstart to leave. I caught up with him a ways down the sidewalk as he was tying his hair up.

____

“Hey.” I smiled, but kept my distance, a little farther than was typically sociable. He kept his eyes forward.

____

“I’m getting groceries.”

____

I nodded. “Okay.”

____

We kept walking in silence for a couple minutes. The stupid pointy boots he was wearing clicked loudly on the pavement.

____

I cleared my throat. “What were you working on?” The store was at least a ten minute walk from here, and we weren’t headed towards any nearby parking deck, so I tried my hand at easing the tension.

____

“Biomechanics.” Adrian squinted toward the sun.

____

“Sounds like fun.”

____

“It’s a riot”

____

I bit back my sigh before I responded, “I’m just trying to be amiable. Sometimes clients prefer some small talk. Helps us warm up to each other and all that.”

____

“God, shut _up_ ,” he growled. Actually growled. Not a human sound. “Fuck, sorry.”

____

“No worries.” I shrugged. “I get that you don’t want to do this. But we both signed the dotted line.”

____

Adrian nodded slowly, and a few strands of hair fell loose from the bun. “I still need groceries.”

____

“I didn’t think you were lying.”

____

“And I can’t just meet you back at my apartment?”

____

“I haven’t been there yet.” I kept my voice breezy, but I could see his jaw clench.

____

“I sent you the address,” he bit out.

____

I shrugged and tucked my hands in my pockets. Of course I knew where he lived; I’d scoped the place out all last week. “You get to pick a following distance. Within reason.”

____

Adrian smiled begrudgingly, then cocked his head in interest. “Are you legally obligated to take a bullet for me?”

____

“For some reason I doubt your potential attackers will be using guns.” I wasn’t. Legally obligated, at least. I got the feeling that if I failed in preventing his son from sustaining a potentially lethal wound, Dr. Tepes would peel my skin off in strips and make me eat it, or something equally terrible. Lisa would probably strangle me. Either way, I had good motivation to go beyond the expectations of my contract.

____

I glanced over when Adrian didn’t respond; he was staring ahead, stony-faced.

____

“Sorry if that was out of line. I’m not funny.”

____

Adrian raised an eyebrow. “I don’t care. I’m just cold.” Apparently the blazer was a fashion-over-function garment.

____

I pulled my Carhartt tighter around myself. The wind had really picked up. “Sure, I get it. But I know - I’ve never worked -” I coughed as I fumbled for the right words, “I’m maybe not the most sensitive to your, er, background.”

____

“You can say ‘vampire’, you know.” Adrian was clearly working to hide his amusement. “I’m not going to be offended.”

____

“Great, noted.”

____

Adrian shook his head. The bun was coming even more loose and I clenched my fists in my pockets. I shouldn’t want to fix it as much as I did. He had to know it was falling out, right?

____

I was disappointed in myself for being so bothered. It was one of those pet peeve things that couldn’t matter less, but once you have a bad first impression of a person, you start seeking out little quirks to validate your irritation, ascribing personality traits to the fact they’re wearing loud shoes, or won’t look you in the eye.

____

I didn’t have anything to say, so I didn’t say anything. Adrian didn’t try to resuscitate the conversation, and we carried on.

__  
_ _

While Adrian put away his food, I followed my instruction and dropped my bag on the fold-out couch.

____

“Nice place. Good windows.” It was dark outside now, but I had an excellent view of the streetlights.

____

Adrian didn’t take his head out of the fridge to respond. “My last unit was a garden level apartment. Basically underground.”

____

I felt like an idiot when I realized I was nodding. I wanted to ask why he moved, if it had any connection with hiring me, but it wasn’t my place. I approached the kitchen as Adrian straightened up.

____

“The bottom shelf is yours if you want it. I don’t keep much in the pantry, so you can do whatever you want.” He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “Uh, is there anything I’m forgetting?”

____

I resolved to stash my granola bars when there wasn’t a tired and irritable vampire taking up the entire galley kitchen. “I’m set. I realize this is a unique situation, but I usually tell people that my job is to put them at ease. I can just be a shadow.”

____

Adrian’s expression was impenetrable.

____

“Coffee’s in that cabinet. I’ll try not to die in my sleep,” he deadpanned. He shoved past me and snagged his bag off the floor before retreating into the bedroom.

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kicking off the chaos with something a little different. I've been doing a lot of technical writing lately, and I feel that it's tragically affecting my non-technical, just-for-funsies writing. I think I'm mostly just really in my head about it, but it's still much more terse and choppy than I like, and I'm struggling to get in the flow. Sooo ... I challenged myself to write an AU I don't read much of, in first-person (which is a real struggle for me, I gotta say). I've been playing with this for a while as a "getting loose" exercise without any real plans to post it, so I can only apologize for its erratic format. There's much less of a throughline than what I typically post, but it doesn't hurt to have a spot for something a bit more casual. And if my effort to do some zero-pressure writing might make for somebody's enjoyable, zero-pressure reading, then I have to post it, right? (House Hunters Wallachia shall remain buried in my Drive though, y'all deserve better)


	2. Chapter 2

**Adrian**

  


I’d left my contacts in too long, and my eyes still felt scratchy. I used to be much more obsessive about it, but I hadn’t been wearing them regularly for a couple of years. I think I realized early on that it didn’t matter, that no one was terribly concerned exactly what shade my eyes were, but I kept the pressure on myself. I’d have to decide soon whether Trevor would be getting the full experience. 

The eyes weren’t a big deal. None of it was. I’d lived with roommates for years, and they all thought I was a real person. I’d managed to hold up that front. It should be better, the fact Trevor knew about the vampire stuff. It should take off some of the pressure. Plus, he was only here because it was his job. He was practically paid to be minimally interested in my personal angst, just stop me from getting abducted and held for ransom, or whatever terrible fate my dad was convinced would befall me if I didn’t have a fucking _Belmont_ breathing down my neck.

I rolled onto my back. God, I needed to sleep. I had two labs tomorrow and my patience would be tested enough without being tired on top of it. I knew I could talk myself through this loop a thousand times and get nowhere, but it still felt like something I could actually do, not just witness. Obviously, there were legitimate threats to my life, or at least my well-being. I could recognize that. I understood that my father was very deeply involved in vampire politics, and that it was ugly and violent. And, being his son, I was inextricably tied to that world, to some degree.

But here I was, in a decent one-bedroom apartment in a college town, vaguely concerned about my thermo exam next week, wishing I didn’t have to be up at seven tomorrow - normal shit. All the rest was just stuff I had to do, time-consuming and bothersome, sure, but it didn’t rule my life. I listened to the low breathing beyond my door and sighed toward the ceiling. There wasn’t much I could do at this point. 

  


I decided to wear contacts again in the morning, mostly because it meant I could justify another few minutes in the bathroom before facing my new shadow.

My Belmont was sitting on the couch, his sheets and pillow folded neatly on the floor by his feet. He was scrolling through his phone, but quickly shoved it in his pocket when he saw me. I didn’t stop my walk to the coffee machine. I expected him to say something, or try to chat, but he just sat there, being irritating. I wasn’t going to be the one to speak first. He was the one intruding on my life. Yes, it was petty, but I’d like to think I’m generally pretty sensible, so I can cash in all my points on this.

I roamed around the apartment, partly to get my bag together, and partly because I could see Trevor tense up whenever passed behind him. 

I grabbed a travel mug and headed for the door. I made an exception to my rule, because it was less fuss than waiting for him to hunt me down.

“I’m headed to class. I should be back by seven or so.”

Trevor stood and straightened his shirt - a flannel button-down. Unsurprising, but I was kind of hoping he’d be kitted out in a full suit.

“Great, let’s go.”

I took my hand off the doorknob to gawk at Trevor.

“Maybe you’re confused. I’m going to lecture. I’ll be sitting in a room with two hundred other college students, and then I’ll go sit in a library, and then I’ll sit in another classroom. I’m not off fighting goblins or negotiating with incubuses -”

“Incubi.” Trevor was standing casually, and his face betrayed nothing. I could feel the animal growl building at the base of my throat and cut it off.

“You’re not a student.”

“My student ID says different,” he said, and patted his pocket.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Maybe I should have left the contacts off this morning.

Trevor inhaled before he went on. “Okay, fine. I’m not technically a student. Your professors know that I’m hired to protect someone in their class, but it’s all very discrete. Even if they guess it’s you, they signed the NDA.”

I was keenly aware that I needed to catch the bus in the next few minutes if I didn’t want to walk to campus. I wasn’t wearing the proper footwear to take the risk.

“Fine. It’s fine. Just - fine.” I gritted my teeth and opened the door. I could sacrifice a little pride.


	3. Chapter 3

**Trevor**

  


The crunching never stopped. I had been sitting on the couch, getting work done, for nearly an hour, and not once did the grind of teeth-on-ice pause. I looked over my shoulder to verify that, yes, he did have a bowl of it and, no, it did not look anywhere near empty.

I cleared my throat obtusely. Adrian paused and scowled in my direction. The artificial blue of his contacts was unsettling, but I didn’t flinch. “Yes?”

“Er, would you mind chewing your ice a bit quieter?”

The other man narrowed his eyes. “Does it bother you?”

“It’s just loud, I wasn’t sure if you knew.” He had to know. Who the hell eats ice for fun?

“My teeth are fucked up. Ice helps. My deepest apologies if this has offended you, o great Belmont.” He mocked bowed before returning to his textbook.

It was my turn to glare. “You don’t have to be surly about it.” A twinge of guilt struck me, so I kept talking. “But why are you chewing it - if you don’t mind my asking?” I tacked on quickly.

With a restrained huff, Adrian closed his book and turned fully to address me. “In case you haven’t noticed, I have something of a unique dental situation. And because I prefer to _not_ prey on the blood of hapless townsfolk, my teeth don’t get as much wear and tear as they’re built for.”

I did not see where this was going, but I held his stare anyway. He was clearly irritated, and while some of it was definitely my fault, I doubted all of it was. I had some obligation to hear him out, right?

“Without regular-” he coughed, “- _intensive_ use, they get achy and sore. Hopefully that’s enough information for you.”

“I didn’t realize - sorry.” God, why did I ever speak? Being “the strong, silent type” was literally my job description, I had no reason to be nosy. I got stupid and comfortable and shot myself in the foot.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s fine,” Adrian replied with a sharp tone. He reopened his book, but did not resume his ice crunching. I looked back to the computer in my lap and waited, but only heard the flip of the page and brief scratching of pencil.

I stood and set the computer aside.

“I’m going to run my checks on the lobby.” Adrian nodded stiffly without looking up from his task. On my way out, I detoured to grab his half-full ice bowl and took it to the freezer, refilling it with cubes from the tray and returning it to its place. I didn’t turn to see his expression as I made my way to the door. “I’ll be back in five.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all really liked those first few chapters, huh?  
> Alas, I am but a humble fic writer, and the people have spoken - please enjoy more of this madness :)

**Adrian**

As it turns out, the maximum distance Trevor can be away from me is just about the width of a lecture hall. I glanced up to see him perched on the rail toward the back, watching students shuffle in. I took my seat - fourth row back, second seat in from the aisle - and tried to ignore him.

Unfortunately, Trevor Belmont was difficult to ignore, once you knew to look for him. It was like that psych experiment where they had people watch a video of a basketball game and asked them to count passes between the players in white shirts. You don’t notice the guy in a gorilla suit until somebody points it out after the fact. He didn’t make any effort to _not_ look like a bodyguard, but nobody was looking for one. None of the other students, at least. The large class size did a lot for his anonymity. I dreaded what was going to happen for my lab sections. I knew I was only making it worse by looking, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to take another peek. He was still there, lurking, and looking far too cavalier about it. 

I returned to staring intently at my notebook until the professor started lecture.

As expected, the material was dull but dense. I’m willing to confess that my notes were lacking, but in my defense, I had a lot on my mind. I could feel Trevor’s gaze on the back of my head, a constant reminder that I needed to be watched. Even here, in the most mundane of all situations, I was a supernatural liability.

I looked up and realized we were three slides ahead of the last time I was paying attention. A thorny-looking equation loomed on-screen. I hastily scribbled down what I could glean from context and notes to look it up later.

My father wasn’t one for subtlety. I appreciated that he fully accepted the fact this was the modern era and he couldn’t just lock me in a tower, far away from the rest of the world. But that was clearly his starting point. After last summer, I honestly didn’t think I was going to be allowed back to school. Even my mother, a fervent advocate for my continued education, was hesitant to let me return.

And so: the Belmont. Not my ideal solution, but it would be stupid to complain. It was more than the barest iota of independence I would have been granted otherwise. Rationally, I knew it wasn’t my fault. My father being who he was, threats came with the territory. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out he had a son, and more, a half-human son who was completely naive to the bloody world of vampire politics.

We got a tip-off before anything came of it, but it was close enough to set off alarm bells.

Class continued to drag on. We had just started on hemodynamics, which was interesting enough, but not really my cup of tea. I was already braced for the terrible joke Trevor was sure to deliver as soon as he got me alone. As a baseline, I struggled with fluid mechanics, which didn’t help, and as I was learning today, I now had to remember a different set of rules and equations for different vessel sizes, because of course. Despite my best efforts to focus on the practice problem we were working through, the general background noise of the lecture hall kept dragging my attention away.

I was caught in one of those tragic moods where each little sniffle and shuffle felt like a personal attack. Someone two rows behind me had an irritatingly vocal cough, and I could hear the student to my left swallowing the spit in her mouth; it made me want to tear my hair out. Super-special dhampir hearing wasn’t generally an issue, but it served to amplify all the inane irritations I wished I could ignore.

Both my donors were going to be out of town when I was scheduled to see them next, so I had been carefully rationing the animal blood in the fridge. Because I’m a considerate roommate, I did label the repurposed soymilk containers with my name, but Trevor was in for a nasty surprise if he decided to mooch from the fridge. Regardless, the blood situation wasn’t helping things. It wasn’t an issue when I was smart and on top of my shit, but sometimes you forget that winter break is right around the corner and you need to make plans in advance. I knew I was going to be tired and grouchy, generally unpleasant to be around in the coming weeks, but unless I was willing to get into details (I was not), I didn’t have a meaningful way to apologize. So I was just going to have to endure it, and Trevor was going to have to endure me.

  


Trevor parted the crowd of students like the Red Sea. I’m not sure he even noticed how the bustle unconsciously moved to avoid him, despite how dense it was. We agreed to touch base after class at one of the tables lining the hall outside the auditorium, so I got a perfect view of my shadow carving a path through the fray of young adults. I sipped my coffee, hoping to hide my amusement. Sure, he was dressed in the same scrubby jeans and pullover combo a hundred other students wore, but he held himself like a soldier - he stood out nearly as much as I did. Once he saw my table, he made a beeline in my direction.

“Am I allowed to make a joke about the fact you’re taking a class on blood stuff?”

“No,” I stated blandly. I caught his borderline dejected expression as I took another sip of coffee and felt bad. With an obligatory eyeroll, I course-corrected, “Actually, yes. I want to hear the stupid comment you’ve been thinking about for the past fifty minutes.”

“I mean, I didn’t actually come up with a line. I just thought it was funny.”

“You had fifty minutes to think of one vampire joke and nothing? Shame.” I smiled and shouldered my bag. “I’m headed to the library next.”

He nodded as though he didn’t already have my schedule memorized.

We got in some idle chatter as we made our way outside.

“If it’s any consolation, we’re studying blood flow for the next two weeks, so you have plenty of time to come up with something.”

Trevor chuckled as he held open the door for me. _Asshole_.

“I’ll confess I had no idea what a biomechanics class looked like until today. I think this job is going to be very educational for me.”

A sharp gust of winter air greeted us outside. At least the engineering building was only a few blocks from the library. I buried my face deeper into my scarf. Trevor kept his head on a swivel, still maintaining conversation, but vigilant as ever. The dry weather had not been kind to my contractual companion. Aside from going a shocking red color in the cold, his cheeks and ears were chapped; it looked painful. If I started leaving moisturizer out on the bathroom counter, would that be passive-aggressive?

It was like living with a ghost. He could fade endlessly into the background, but it was impossible to forget he was there; he really was a shadow, just as promised. I slowly pulled away from the conversation, words giving way to nods and mumbles, and Trevor accommodated by filling in the silence.

  


I made sure to hold the door for him when we arrived at the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it lame to plug my shiny new tumblr? If you feel so inclined, say hi [@lakeghostwrites](https://lakeghostwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Please know that I read and appreciate every single comment, even if I don't reply (usually it's just because my response would be a string of thank yous a mile long, and nobody wants to read that). It genuinely fills my heart with absolute delight to hear what people think! Thank you all!


End file.
